Feeding mechanism for hosiery-presses



C. E. WAREAM.

FEEDlNG MECHANISM FOR HOSIERY PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 191B.

- Patented Dec 20, 1921.

7 SHEETS-SHEET L m JIS L-Vl ZEN TOR C. E. WAREAIVI.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR HOSIERY PRESSES.

APPLICAHON FILED MAY 2?, 1918.

Patented Dec. 20,

7 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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C. E. WAREAM.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR HOSIERY PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2% I918. 1,400,645, Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

7SHEETSSHEET 3.

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: fill 0; E. WAREAM.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR HOSIERY PRESSES.

APPLICAHON FILED MAY27,1918.

'1 ,QOQfiQE Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

7SHEETSSHEET 4.

0. E. WAREAM.

FEEDING ME CHANiSM FOR HOSIERY PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. 1918.

1 400,64 5 Patented Dec 20, 1921..

7 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Jae 27277.2?

C. E. WAREAM.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR HOSIERY PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY27, 1918.

l QOO, 645 w Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

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C. E. WAREAM.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR HOSIERY PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2?, 1918.

1,400,645,, I I Patented Dec. 20, 1921:.

7SHEETSSHEET 7- um'rsn s'rmes PATENT OFFICE.

' CHAIR-LES E. WARE-AM. OF CINCINNATI, OHIO. ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY. OF NORWOUD. OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF FEEDING MECHANISM FOR HOSIERY-PRESSES.

1 ,400,6&5.

Application filed May 27,

o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. WAREAM, citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanism for Hosiery-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to feeding mechanism for hosiery presses. The invention is an improvement upon the a paratus shown, described, and claimed in atent 1,189,064, granted June 27, 1916, to Harry Coulston.

Heretofore, in pressing or ironing stockings or hosiery the stockings have been either individually fed into the pressing machine or, after being delivered singly or piled in groups on the receiving table of the (.oulston patent above referred to, have been taken away from said table by hand and fed one by one or' group by group into the pressing machine.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for reducing the labor required for pressing hosiery, and more par ticularly to provide improved mechanism for directly transferring the stockings from the receiving table and feeding them into the pressing machine, thereby doing away with the intermediate handling of. the hosiery by an "operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism of the class described which operates in timed relation with the mechanism of the feeding table and also is cooperatively related to the pressing machine, and which mechanism is of simple construction and either can be built into the receivin table or readily attached to a receiving ta le already in use.

Further objects of the invention are in part obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

The invention comprises the construction and arran ement of parts hereinafter described an claimed.

In the drawings, which represent one suitable embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a plan view, illustrating the receiving table and the cooperating hosiery pressing machine, some parts being omitted; Fig. 2 is an end elevation, partly in section on the line 2-2, Fi 1, looking in the direction of the arrows Fig. 3 is a detail plan view, illustrat- Speoification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

1918. Serial No. 236,818.

Or a portion of the mechanism of the receivin table and the cooperating transfer de- -mechanism illustrated in Fig. 7; Fig. 10 is a sectional elevation on the line 1010, Fig. 7 Fig. 11 is a detail sectional view on the line 11-11, Fig. 12;'Fig. 12 is a detail sectional view on the line 12-12, Fig. 7; Fig. 13 is a sectional view on the line 13-13, Fig. 7; and Fig. 14 is a detail perspective View of the mechanism for raising and lowering the carrying frame.

The apparatus shown in the drawings comprises three associated or cooperatively related mechanisms or devices, including a drying machine, indicated conventionally at A, a receiving table B, and a hosiery ironing or pressing machine C. The drying machine requires no particular description, as it is a well understood mechanism in this art.

The receiving table B may be of any suitable type or description. Its functions are to receive stockings taken off from the forms upon which they are dried in the drying machine, pile them in piles of a predetermined number upon said table and advance the piles in order along said table to its opposite end. The receiving table shown for this purpose is in all respects identical with that shown and described in the Coulston patent above referred to, but said receiving table will be more or less particularly described because of the intimate functional and mechanical relation therewith of the mechanism of the present invention.

Briefly described the receiving table B comprises a main frame 1 carrying a series of fixed parallel longitudinally extending bars 2 which form the fixed section of the table. In the spaces between said bars are longitudinally movable bars 3 which also have vertical movement to lift a pile of stockings from the fixed bars and advance them along the table, said movable bars then moving downwardly and retreating to leave the pile in the advanced position. 4 indicates the receivin bars upon which the stockings are initially piled as they are withdrawn from the drying forms. These bars are operatively connected to mechanism for depressing them step by step to produce a ile.

The receiving bars 4 are secured to a plate 5 supported by vertical rods 6 working in guides 7 and connected by links 8 to arms 9 on a rock shaft 10 provided at one end with an arm 11 provided with a pin or roller 12 traveling in a cam groove 13 in a wheel 14 mounted on a shaft 15. Wheel 14 is turned step by step as each stocking is placed upon the pile, the cam 13 being of progressive spiral form to uniformly depress the receiving bars until, when the pile is completed, said bars are practically at the same level as the movable bars 3. I

The main driving shaft of the machine is indicated at 16. It may be driven in any suitable manner and is a constantly rotating shaft. On one end of said driving shaft is an arm 17 carrying a roller 18 which, as shown in Fig. 9, at each rotation of said driving shaft enters the space between the teeth 19 on wheel 14 and thereby turns said wheel one space. The wheel is held or locked during the intervals between its steps of movement by a locking bolt 20, said bolt having a portion 21 slidable in suitable guides and being normally held in looking engagement with the wheel by a spring 22. One end of the bolt has a wide bearing member 23 which is engaged by the roller 18 just before the latter enters a recess in the wheel,

so that the orbital movement of the roller pushes out the locking bolt before the wheel is turned, and after the wheel has been. turned one revolution the spring 22 moves the bolt back to locking position.

The machine also includes suitable mechanism for producing both vertical and horizontal movement of the movable bars 3 of the table in a manner to lift the pile of stockings from the fixed bars of the table, advance them to a new position thereon and then retreat for the next feeding step. For thispurpose the movable bars 3 are secured to a frame 24, (Fig. 8), having depending portions 52 extending longitudinally of the table and supported on rollers 53 carried by connected levers 54 pivoted in the stationary frame or rods'55, the arrangement being such that if one roller is elevated all of the other rollers follow it with the same vertical movement. Two end levers 54 are connected by links 56 to frames 57 having vertical sliding movement on stationary rods 58, the upper portion of each frame 57 being provided with a housing 59, and in which housings work cams 60 carried by a tubular shaft 61 surrounding the main driving shaft 16. Each time shaft 61 rotates througha complete revolution the earns 60 turn over in the housings and first raise and later lower the rollers 53 and the movable bars 2 of the table supported thereon.

Tubular shaft 61 also supports a pair of toothed sectors 62, which co5perate with upper and lower pins or rollers 63, 64, (Figs. 8 and 9) on the frames 52. After the movable portion of the table has been raised, rotation of shaft 61 causes the teeth of segments 62 to engage the upper pins 63, as shown in Fig. 9,'and advance the movable bars of the table longitudinally toward its opposite end, and after the movable bars have been lowered by further rotation of the cams 60 segments 62 engage the lower set of pins 64 and return the movable bars of the table to their initial ositions.

One complete rotation of the shaft 61 produces a complete cycle of operations of the movable bars of the table, the cams and other mechanism now to be described being so set that the advancing movement occurs just after a new pile has been completed on the receiving section of the table.

Tubular shaft 61 is actuated by a mechanism as follows:

Main shaft 16 is provided with a collar 65, while the tubular shaft 61 carries a collar 66 located directly adjacent collar 65. Collar 66 is provided with an opening to re ceive a locking bolt 67 having sliding motion therein and adapted to enter and coperate with a locking recess 68 in collar 65. This locking bolt is carried by a head 69 having a beveled end portion 70 and also carrying a bolt 71 entering a recess 72 and beneath its head provided with a compression spring 73. Said spring exerts a constant tendency to force the bolt 67 into locking engagement with the recess 68, but is normally held out of engagement with said recess by one end' of a plunger 74 having sliding movement in a stationary bearing 75, and whose opposite end is pivotally connected to a lever 76 pivoted at 77. The opposite end of said lever is provided with two cams 78, 79, inclined in opposite directions and coiiperating with a pin or roller 80 on the wheel 14.

It will be recalled that the wheel 14 controls the downward movement of the receiving section of the table in order to produce a pile. Just after the pile is completed, and before the wheel 14 has finished one complete revolution, the pin 80 thereon engages the cam 78 and withdraws plunger 74 from engagement with the head 69. Spring 73 therefore becomes effective to introduce the bolt 67 into the recess 68 thereby coupling tubular shaft 61 to the main driving shaft 16. The tubular shaft therefore begins to rotate and produce feeding movement of the movable bars of the table. Just after the feeding cycle is completed the pin 80 engages cam 79 and advances plunger 74 into the path of rotation of the head 69, and when said head comes around its inclined face 70 engages said plunger and withdraws the bolt 67 from its recess, the parts remaining in uncoupled relation while the next pile is produced ready for another feeding movement.

Up to this point the descriptimi has been confined to the mechanism of the Coulston patent above referred to. The mechanism of the present invention, now to be described, is associated in cooperating relation with the Coulston mechanism and is adapted to take the stockings or piles thereof as they reach the end of the feeding table and, in timed relation with the Coulston machine, deliver them in proper position to a pressing machine.

The pressing machine may be of any suitable type or description. It is illustrated in somewhat conventional form and comprises a series of hollow heated drums 81 mounted to rotate in a frame 82 and whose central shafts are inter-connected by driving gears 83, one of which is operatively connected to the driving motor 84. Around said drums travel upper and lower endless belts 85, 86, the lowermost belt having an exposed horizontal upper portion 87 upon which the stockings are delivered and which serves as a conveyer to introduce them between the pressing drums. These two endless belts lie one above and one below the stockings, while the latter travel between the drums, the pressed stockings being finally delivered by said belts to a receiving table 88.

At the far end of the Coulston feeding table is a transfer device for taking the st0ck ings from the Coulston table and feeding them to the pressing machine, which is located in any suitable or proper position adjacent the Coulston machine. This transfer device comprises a series of arms 89 carried by an oscillating shaft 90 and which arms are preferably made of thin metal or other suitable material and normally lie in the position shown in Fig. 1, to wit, in superposed relation upon the stationary bars 2. Consequently, the last feeding movement of the ()oulston table delivers a pile of stockings upon the arms 89 of the transfer device. Shaft 90 is mounted in suitable bearings and is provided with a gear 91 cooperating with a rack 92 having sliding motion in a stationary guide 93, said rack being connected by a link 94 to. a bar or shaft 95 sliding in a stationary support 96 and provided at its opposite end with a head 97 having an arcuate slot 98 to receive an eccentric pin 99 carried by a gear 100, said gear meshing with gear teeth 101 attached to or formed on the collar 66 of the tubular shaft 61 before referred to. The device for transferring the stockings from the Coulston table to the pressing machine is therefore driven by the same tubular shaft which produces feeding movement of the movable portion of the Coulston table.

Normally, or while producing a pile of stockings on the Coulston table, the position of the parts is as indicated in Fig. 4. When shaft 61 rotates to advance the stockings along the Coulston table the first half rotation of said shaft causes the pin 99 to travel around the arcuate slot 98 without affecting the transfer device which delivers to the pressing machine. By the time pin 99 reaches the end of slot 98 the last stocking or pile of stockings has been delivered upon the arms 89. Further rotation of shaft (51 produces sliding movement of shaft 95 in its support, thereby causing the rack92 to turn gear 91 and swing the arms 89 through approximately 180 of movement. The movement is quick and carries the pile of stockings over to the pressing machine, turning said pile over and depositing it upon the belt 87, which immediately advances the pile to the pressing drums. The final motion of shaft 61 returns feeding arms 89 to their original position ready for another operation.

It will, of course, be understood that the invention is not confined to the particular form of stocking feeding machine illustrated, the Coulston machine having been shown and described purely for purposes of illustration. Any machine is suitable which will deliver the stockings either single or in piles upon the feeding device for transferring them to the pressing machine. The mechanism described does away with an operator or operators for handling the stockings and feeding them to the pressing machine. It is of simple construction and can be readily attached to any feeding mechanism.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a pressing machine, a feeding table, means for advancing stockings step by step along said table in the direction of its length, and means associated therewith for removing the stockings from the table and delivering them in a direction transverse to the length of said table to the pressing machine.

2. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a pressing machine, a feeding table, means for producing a pile of stockings thereon, and means associated therewith for transferring the pile from the table to the pressing machine.

3. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a pressing machine, a feeding table, means for producing a pile of stockings thereon, means for advancing the pile step by step along the table in the direction of its j length, and means cooperatively associated therewith for removing a pile from said table and transferring it in a direction transverse to the length of said table to the pressing machine.

Apparatus of the class described, (-0111- prising a pressing machine, a feeding table, means for advancing stockings along said table and including a driving shaft, and means operatively connected to said shaft for transferring the stockings from said table to the pressin machine.

5. Apparatus 0% the class described, comprising a pressing machine, a feeding table, means for producing a pile of stockings on said table and including an operating shaft, means driven by said shaft for advancing :1 pile along said table, and means cooperatively related with said advancing means for transferring a pile to the pressing machine.

6. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a pressing machine, a feeding table, means for producing a pile of stockings on said table and including an operating shaft, means driven by said shaft for advancing a pile along said table, and means driven by said shaft for transferring a pile from the table to the pressing machine. I

7. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a table, means for advancing stockings lengthwise of said table, a conveyer at the end of said table movable transversely thereof, and means for removing stockings from said table and depositing the same upon said conveyer.-

-8. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a table, means for advancing stockings lengthwise of said table, a conveyer at the end of said table movable transversely thereof. means for removing stockings from said table and depositing the same upon said conveyer, and a pressing machine at the delivery end of said conveyer.

9. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a table, means for advancing stockings along said table in one direction, a conveyer at the end of said table and movable transversely thereto, and oscillating fly mechanism movable in the direction of travel of said stockings along said table for removing stockings therefrom and depositing them upon said transversely moving conveyer.

10. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a table, means for advancing stockings along said table in one direction, an ironing machine, a conveyer adapted to feed stockings to said ironing machine and having a portion located at the end of said table and moving transversely thereto, and oscillating fly mechanism movable in the direction of travel of the stockings along said table and adapted to remove stockings therefrom and deposit them upon said conveyer.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CHARLES E. WAREAM. 

